


Mass Effect Rebirth: Diary of an Admiral

by Diabolikal5ME



Category: Mass Effect
Genre: F/M, ME3 AU, Multiuniversal
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-17
Updated: 2018-02-13
Packaged: 2018-11-02 00:23:40
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,002
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10933098
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Diabolikal5ME/pseuds/Diabolikal5ME
Summary: The story of the Shepard is already being told. But what about the Admiral who grew her up when almost no-one was there for her? Join Admiral David Anderson and the Resistance, traveling through war-torn Earth and picking up  new companions along the way.Coincides with the events of Mass Effect: Rebirth, my main story.





	1. Prolouge: The Beginning of the End

**Author's Note:**

> Hey guys; this is a side story to...well, my main story. Hopefully, you guys enjoy it and any criticism/questions/feedback is appreciated.

_(Unknown Location, Canada)_

_(June 18th, 2186- Journal 1)  
_

_Logging in…._

_Log 62, June 18th 2186._

_It’s…been a rough start, we’ll say. The remaining soldiers who had survived the city invasion are all hiding in suburbs, or rural areas. Me? I’m stuck in whatever’s left of an old Canadian town. At least, that’s what Major Coats had said. He says we’re lucky…oh, how true he is. We’ve planned to travel north to Alaska, then westbound through the rest of the world until we reach London. Coats says it's too dangerous to travel along through the Eastern Seaboard; too many cities and Reapers there for us risking the travel. Add in the risk of the wide ocean, and that they’d obliterated the US East Coast within the last few days…_

“Anderson!” Major Coats yelled, as he and and a few Alliance soldiers armed with M-8 Avengers ran over to Anderson, who was talking into his Omni-tool. It had been nearly a month since he had seen Shepard; since the war with the Reapers began on Earth. “Admiral, our forces are ready to move north. Just lost contact with the Brazilians.”

“Damn.” Anderson simply responded, grabbing his own Avenger, as the few Makos and gunships they had began slowly moving out of the small town they were in. Reaper corpses littered the street, mostly consisting of Husks and Cannibals. The distant sound of Reapers blasts could be heard, most likely out of whatever was left of Vancouver.

_Commander Riley Shepard had warned us about the threat of the Reapers nearly three years ago. I, along with the Alliance, were the only people to even believe her. Udina didn’t even believe the threat of the Reapers, labeling at as some form of ‘hocus pocus’. Udina and the Council still didn’t believe us after a Reaper stared them down those same amount of years ago, as Hackett’s 5th fleet sacrificed themselves so that the Reapers couldn’t destroy the Destiny Ascension._

_No…it didn’t take until Earth was hit by the Reapers that they’d actually be willing to do something…._

Anderson breathed heavily in and out multiple times, as he boarded one of the Makos to drive out.

He continued speaking into his Omni-tool, as his comrades (including Coats) stayed silent or talked quietly to each other.

_I don’t know what exactly Shepard’s going to bring when she returns to Earth…I don’t know if I' I’m going to live long enough to see Earth back in the state it was before the war…of it ever is going to go back to the way it was. But similar to how Shepard’s going to save the rest of the galaxy…hell, beyond that if possible…I’m gonna make sure that when she comes back to Earth…._

_She’ll know that I’ll be waiting, and that she’ll know that Earth is still kicking…_

_And it won’t back down._

_Anderson…out._

_Logging off…_


	2. Refuge

_(Alaska, United States of America)_  
_(July 4, 2186)_

_Logging in…._

_Welcome, Admiral Anderson._

_Log 65_

_Heh…I can’t believe it. 310 years since the United States decided to break off from Britain. Who knew they’d still be fighting for independence so many years afterwards? It’s ironic, really; almost like the United States never really won the fight for independence_.

He paused, heavily breathing a bit before continuing.

  
_I’ve actually been here before; back when I was a kid. My mum and I used to fish here with my dad, when his patrol was on shore leave. Mum used to… Mum…hope your listening out there…I love you. And know that your son is fighting for you down here._

“Admiral! We’ve got friendlies here!” Shouted Coats, as a bunch of children, the oldest being 12, huddling around the arriving Alliance soldiers. The gunships flew overhead, landing near the refuge.

_We’d recently arrive at the Anchorage refuge site. Quite massive, literally; 200,000 civilians, Alliance soldiers, and some civilian fighters. Even a few spare heavy weapons. I was a bit…surprised. The amount of people who have hope that this war would end early…the hope that people like myself, could…save the Alliance…_  
Anderson felt something tugging at his leg. When he looked down, it was a small kid, at the age of 6. “Mister! Mister!” He says, tugging his leg.  
The admiral looked down to the kid, and asked, “Yes, little child; what do you need?”  
“Mister, they’re preparing a few ships for you, I think. Said it would land you somewhere in Je..Ji…” the kid tried to say, with Anderson saying, “…Japan?”

“Yis.” The child replied, smiling in response. “Miss Mei would like to see you.”

“Who?” Anderson bought, following the kid. The very distant sound of Reaper blasts were heard, as the Admiral traveled throughout the ice. Alliance soldiers conversed with the civilians there, the sound of explosions rocking among the North Atlantic nearby.

“Good; keep checking the Arctic for any of these giant calamari robots.” A woman replied, sounding around her 30s. “Keep making sure that the research stations are safe from them…”  
  
The child walked in, Anderson walking behind him. “Miss Mei! Miss Mei!”

Mei turned around to see the child staring wondrously at her, and then looked up to see the Admiral walk in.  
“Admiral Anderson. Been nearly 5 years since you helped me get away from Talon.” She says.  
“Well, Cerberus and some of your indoctrinated scientists were also after you back on Noveria. Talon was the least of concerns. Got any word from any of your colleagues?” He asks.  
“The Arctic and Antarctic stations had been secured when we heard about the Reapers approaching the Earth. Nothing was heard from Rio or any of the US cities since then.” Mei explained, grabbing her weapon, which seemed to be some sort of ice gun. A small drone peeked out from its hiding place, making its way to her, happily landing on her back.

“So...you decided that revealing your name was necessary?” Anderson asked.

“Well, I haven’t heard from any of my old colleagues since crashing on Noveria. Haven’t heard from Talon since you guys helped me escape. These people are desperate; they’re mostly scared. Revealing my name might as well be the least of their issues.” Mei had replied, walking outside. “I mean, people have been trading here since people had heard about what happened in London. Many people came up here; myself included.”

“But you know that the Reapers will eventually land up here and kill you all, right?” Anderson had warned, a hint of worry in his voice.

“And that’s why we’re joining you. You and Kahlee told me about the Shepard; the children here idol the woman. I’d think that we could give her more time here before the Crucible is activated.” She replies.

The two (along with the child) made their way until they reached the hundreds of Alliance gunships. Refugees piled into some, while Alliance soldiers piled into the other.

While Anderson jumped onto a gunship along with Coats, Mei had jumped on one the civilian Kodiaks.  
“Where are you going?” The Admiral yelled to the Chinese ice-bearer.  
“We’re going to head for the rendezvous point in Japan! Didn’t Coats tell you? We’re getting the refugees out through the Pacific! Not as many Reapers there than the Atlantic yet!” Mei had yelled.  
“Well then why aren’t you boarding with us?” He asked.  
“You guys need to get to London! I’d feel the quickest way would be to take the Northern route through Siberia and Russia! We’re getting the refugees to Osaka; giant refugee camp in there with anti-Reaper sensors! Good luck Anderson!” Mei replied, the Kodiak that she was in leaving.

Anderson sat down in the gunship he was in, as it too took off.

“Feels like a punch in the stomach, didn’t it, Admiral?” Coats had mumbled once the gunship was in the air.

“No; more like a needle in my damn arm…” Anderson replied, his eyes wandering itself to the floor of the ship.

“Ay….” Coats had agreed, staying silent, only the humming of the gunship making any noise. Everyone was either trying not to talk, or hold back their emotions…Anderson, especially.

_I knew the look of Coats’s face when he looked at me later on. It wasn’t that of his normal sarcastic tone, or the serious militaristic tone he’d always put on; it was one…of regret. Fear. Sadness. Tried to humor me a bit…I can’t blame him. He had a wife…two children in London. Reapers struck that city first; why, I don’t know. I only know that he wasn’t the only one feeling that. I’d hope that Mei…or Kahlee…  
I’m hoping both of them are fine._

_I guess when we land in Moscow to either regroup or refuel, we’ll know just how bad it is._

_Anderson out._

_Logging off…_

  



	3. Detours and Dreams

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The growing Resistance on Earth under the Admiral takes a detour, and new heroes begin resurfacing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yep, still kicking and alive. And well, willing to not abandon this or my main story. So enjoy, and give me some feedback.

_(20 miles from Seoul, South Korea)_

_Logging in…._

_Log 66_

_(July 5, 2186)_

_It’s been a rough start; had a near encounter with Reapers across the Bering Strait. Almost had another encounter with Reapers on the way to Siberia. Can’t exactly say it’s been a…’fun ride’ the whole way through. Still…about Mei…she was…an old friend of mine’s._

_The three of us. Kahlee, me and her. We go back to when we rescued her from Talon, nearly 5 year’s ago. In fact, I remember that day. Before I myself was pulled as a Spectre candidate for the Council._

_We were on Noveira…_

————————————————————

_(November 1, 2180)_

_(Noveira)_

A more…younger-looking Anderson was walking throughout Noveira, a second human (female) next To said future Admiral.

This was Kahlee Sanders, a best friend of his, whom had joined him on a mission assigned by the Human Systems Alliance, and involved some sort anomaly that was detected within the area.

_We were sent under the suspicion that someone like the Batarians, or some Turian war vets from First Contact were planning something that we hadn’t experienced yet. Or that someone in the labs had somehow accidentally released something that was beyond normal Noverian control._

Both Anderson and Kahlee went into cover, the sound of talking being heard in the room near them. Five guards bearing M-8 Avengers got into cover with them, a door ahead of them.

_The NDC sent support our way; they say it was to help us._

_Clearly, it was only so that they could keep their funds rolling in that specific part of the company. Anoleis was always like that._

The door was hacked open, and seemingly in the room, was something entirely strange.

In the middle of a room, was seemingly some type of circular device akin to a portal, which was fused out by the looks of it. Near it, an woman, seemingly in some form of winter gear, laid down, a small drone almost angrily looking toward a group of unidentifiable mercenaries, who were pointing guns toward the woman, who was scared of what these men would do to her.

_I would later find out that she came from a world where heroes were needed, and shut down. A world where robots, known as Omnics, and humans would be at peace with one another._

Immediately, before any of the unknown soldiers could turn around, one’s body became riddled with shots from the Avenger Anderson was carrying, the others following suit, and the firefight began.

_A world where there was once a prestigious organization, that collapsed from the hatred of two old friends. One who had died, the other joining a terrorist organization , known as Talon, who were hellbent on murdering every single Omnic in their way, and planned to start a second war between their kind._

Kahlee supported Anderson via using an Incinerate on one of the soldiers, bringing him alive with the addition of Anderson’s Incendiary Avenger rounds. When another soldier tried to fire his own weapon toward Anderson, one of the NDC guards took the shots, effectively killing the soldier, and allowing Anderson to fire a Concussive Shot his way, the window crashing as the Talon soldier fell into the cold below.

_I wouldn’t know it yet, but her people, and the Omnics were engulfed in a combined war against a group known as Null Sector, a radical wing of Omnics who, similar to the Geth in our world, wanted to be just as equal as us humans. Not getting that, they proceeded to go to war with Omnics who sympathized humans and humans themselves. Her people were trying to create devices at bases across the world to send people through different worlds, and had created Arks to help get people away from their Earth._

The soldier, desperate for some form of killing them, attempted to fire his gun toward the woman…only to receive a bullet to the head.

_Those Arks had been lost. One eventually crashed on Earth in 2182, in Western Canada, and ever since then, the Alliance kept it secret from anyone else. Another, confirmed by her, was lost in deep space, most likely in the Terminus Systems for us. The third didn’t even make it before the Null Sector Omnics massacred them. And the fourth and fifth were about to be launched when Mei herself, along with these men, were sent to Noveira via a freak accident._

That came from Mei herself, who was shaking heavily as she held an M-3 Predator Pistol in her hand. She dropped it, almost disgusted with the weapon, before looking up to Anderson and Kahlee in fear, who were walking up to her.

_But enough about that. She had told me that her name was Mei-Ling Zhou, a scientist who was working in Antarctica under the guise of one group._

Anderson and Kahlee looked over the woman, Kahlee giving medi-gel to whatever injuries Mei had.

_She was supposedly invited by a fellow scientist, named Winston, to test out a device capable of dimension and universal traveling…unaware that he had recovered it from a Prothean device on Earth._

Anderson began helping Mei up, who was still scared about Anderson and Kahlee’s motives.

_That ended in a group she would later tell me, named Talon, who, with people under the name of Widowmaker, Reaper, and Sombra, along with a 4th unknown person attacked, and with the battle, the device became unstable, to the point when they were separated. The one she called Tracer, ended up phasing her to Noveria, before fizzing our herself._

Anderson proceeded to lay the Chinese ice-bearer on board an Alliance Kodiak, making sure she didn’t have any type of tracker or bomb on her.

_Ever since we rescued her from the claws of Talon, we’ve been good friends. She lead the Alliance’s research stations on Earth, I continued with what I usually do, and Kahlee helped run Alliance ops, and recruitm_ ent.

_Then I met a youthful Lieutenant one night in 21_ 81….

—————————————————————————————

_(Present Day…)_

Anderson would’ve been shaken out of his thoughts by Major Coats, who was the only one left aboard their Kodiak, the sound of explosions and gunfire ramping on in the background.

“Admiral! Admiral!” Coats Yelled, the Admiral getting up with a groan. “We’re under attack; bloody Reapers knew we were coming!” He Yelled, as the two stumbled out of the Kodiak, Alliance soldiers firing upon Husks and Cannibals that were firing and charging at their Kodiak, the sound of Reaper Harvesters in the distance, the sun bright over their heads.

Soon, the sound of something was heard firing in their direction, both widening their eyes.

“RPG!” Coats shouted, the two of them blown a bit of a distance as a result of the Kodiak exploding in response to the rocket.

Anderson ended tumbling, eventually losing the shields he had, crashing against a nearby rock, him breathing through his teeth in pain.

He would focus in and out of consciousness. At first, he could barely hear anything, due to the sound of the explosion temporarily making him deaf to the battle around him.

Then, as his hearing slowly began getting somewhat better (yet his consciousness was slipping from him) he could hear some Korean being heard behind the rock that his back was crushed upon. And then…

“NERF THIS!” Someone Yelled, a bright green explosion being seen in front of Anderson, knocking him further against his back, as he yelled in pain, as the Reapers were blown away.

Dropping down in front of him, however, was one of the weirdest and unexpected people he’d think that could kill a Reaper.

The girl, if you could say that, wore what seemed to be a mostly purple jumpsuit, with pink and white highlights. She looked to be a gamer, and looked nothing like the Alliance had. Turning around and looking at Anderson in a small bit of shock, Anderson noticed pink makeup in the form of thick lines across her cheeks.

She ran to him and tried to desperately drag him, only serving to strain his back even further. She desperately yelled something out in Korean, a couple Alliance soldiers rushing in, yelling more Korean, as they got Anderson up…and right after that, he would lose consciousness, that last thing he would see being the sky lighting up with white and red….

—————————————————————————

_(????)_

Anderson woke up quite quickly, the sound of fire erupting from across them. A man, seemingly someone he recognized somewhat, picked him up, as gunfire roared in the background.

“Come on, man! We’ve got bogeys incoming!” The soldier shouted, as the guy and Anderson traveled throughout the battlefield, explosions raining down from above. They were firing from ships that Anderson would’ve recognized.

“Turians?” Was his thought…before he realized where his so called ‘dream’ was.

( _Battle of Shanxi; First Contact War; July 8, 2157)_

Explosions rocked around him, Alliance soldiers dying left and right, whether from gunfire from the Turians, or the bombings occurring above their heads.

“We need to get to General Williams!” The soldier shouted, before a bomb dropped right in front of them, Anderson watching as his fellow comrade exploded in front of him, as that propelled Anderson down a hill.

Immediately, he grabbed his M-8 Lancer from his hands and pointed it straight at a familiar figure, who was clearly recognizable to him. A Turian, looking like he hadn’t been corrupted by the Reapers…although at this point, no one knew about them.

“Saren.” Anderson had spoken his name to.

“Anderson.” Was Saren’s response, pointing a Phalanx back at him. “It seemed you didn’t listen to what I’ve told you back on the Citadel. You can’t beat the Reapers. They’ll control all of us.”

“I’ve already listen to that…we’ve found a weapon that’s capable of stopping the Reapers.” Anderson responded, the Turian simply shaking his head in disappointment in response.

“A weapon that the Protheans never finished. How would you think this cycle would complete it?” Saren asked, Anderson seemingly still confident. “The Crucible can be finished.”

Saren once again shook his head. “By the time the Crucible is complete, Anderson, they’ll be no Earth to come back to. You’ve been warned, Anderson.”

And then, before Anderson could speak anymore, he was blinded by a white light…

————————————————————————

_(July 22, 2186)_

_(Seoul, South Korea)_

Slowly but surely, Anderson opened his eyes. He seemed to be in some sort of bed, most likely in some sort of apartment complex, or barracks.

Turning, he saw the girl from before with a tray of food, as she was surprised by the waking of the Admiral.   
  
She was about to go get someone when Anderson stopped her, waving his hand for the girl to come to her.

“Child…can you speak English?” Anderson asked, the child nodding in response.

“What day is it?” He asked, noticing a strange number of chips and soda laid around the room.   
  
“July 22.” Was her response, Anderson trying to shoot up, only screaming in pain halfway through getting, being forced to sit back down.

“I’ve…been out for two weeks?!” Anderson yelled, barely getting it out due to the new pain he was feeling.

“Yeah; your back was hurt pretty bad in the attack by those Omnics. These guys said they’ll would patch you up; it’ll take another week or so to get your back fixed. I don’t exactly know this whole medicine stuff; Mercy knows that more than I do.” She had told him, as he began picking off the food from the tray.

After a small silence, he began to ask a question he forgot to ask in the first place.

“Who are you, child?” He asked.

“Hana…Hana Song.” She says, smiling.

 

_Log 65, End._


	4. Old Friends, New Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anderson reconciles with old friends, gains a new companion and prepares to build up Earth’s Resistance.

_Log 65…_

_Continuing…_

_(July 22nd, 2186; One month since the fall of Earth)_   
_(Seoul, South Korea)_

_South Korea…who knew we had to take a detour to there? I met a young girl who was somehow able to help me get out of a Reaper ambush we’d experienced there, and took us to Seoul for treatment. She told me…_

“You lost half your men while we were trying to get you out. Your friend is talking with the South Korean officials about what to do next, Mr. Anderson.” Hana tells them, pulling out some sort of soda from nearby.

“…are you a…gamer?” Anderson asked, noticing the attire of Hana, looking like some kind of bunny jumpsuit.

“Yeah! Hana Song, professional StarCraft II player, at your service!” She responds, almost going into an ecstatic-like mode due to being recognized by the Admiral.

Anderson chuckled, reminding him of the innocence that humanity seemed to have when they first began flying into space, colonizing planets left and right. Well…that was until the First Contact War in Shanxi. Which he certainly didn’t want to think about at the current time. “What’s a gamer like you doing in the middle of a damn warzone like Seoul? You should be heading to Osaka; they’re bringing in a lot of refugees there.”

“Didn’t you hear about what’s happening to Japan?” Hana asked almost worryingly, which proceeded to give a bad feeling in Anderson’s stomach, as it began rapidly building.

“What’s happening to it?”

“Tokyo’s burning. The giant Omnic squids are mostly trying to rot anyone out of there.” She tells them, leaving a very bad feeling in Anderson’s stomach.

_At first, I couldn’t exactly believe it. We were down to only a couple thousand or so soldiers, in a matter of a day. I…eventually came to accept it. I knew that one day…we had to eventually bury the dead…no matter where they were. A mass funeral. For now though, after another two or so days of my back being fixed with advanced and prototyped versions of medi-gel, I was at least fit for combat again. After another day? I was allowed to get back up from bed, and visit Major Coats._

——————————————————————————————————————-

 

(July 24th, 2186)

Anderson and Hana walked into the temporary command structure that was the temporary South Korean military HQ. A man, seemingly in his 30s (and also Korean of course) barked orders, as Alliance soldiers rushed around, checking terminals, or switching patrol zones.

“Everyone; get me those stats on the Pacific; I want status on those !” The soldier screamed out, as Korean officers were springing across the center.

In the middle of the room, lit up a holographic-like image of Earth, most countries being marked in red, various dates laid on the various places.

“That is General Beng-Shou Liu. He’s been leading the South Korean forces here since those ‘Reapers’ happened to come here.” She tells him, the General smiling at Anderson’s arrival. Liu was bald, seemingly some type of veteran at that.

“Ah, I know General Liu. Was with me during the Skyllian Blitz.” Anderson tells her, the two of them going into a quick hug.

“Admiral Anderson; glad to see you still living.” He tells them in English, his Korean accent still lingering in his voice. “Our comms are temporary back up for the time being. Hana, help out those guys with the Mekas!” The General then proceeded to yell toward Hana, the private temporarily saluting to both Anderson and Liu before scurrying away.

“I’m guessing you’d like to contact someone from the CIC?” He asked, Anderson nodding.

“Yeah; two people.” He tells them. “The SSV Normandy SR-2 and Specialist Kahlee Sanders.” He tells the General, who smiled. “You do like her, don’t you? Even with the war and all, you’d never take your eyes off her.”

Anderson simply smiled. “I wouldn’t say that yet.”

As Anderson left, General Liu tried to stifle a laugh. “Ah, Anderson…always the knight in shining armor to Sanders. Surprised they hadn’t gotten a room together after the whole Talon Crisis.”

———————————————————————————————————————————

_(Inside the CIC, an hour later…)_

Deciding it was the best idea to let Shepard go, Anderson had cut comms with the Commander. He learned a lot of new things; someone called ‘M’ was the reason why they had gotten the unknown woman from Earth, now known as Jyn Erso. They also found out that Palaven fell shortly after Earth, recovered some French girl from a different universe, named Aelita Schaffer. And to top that all off, they had an extraterrestrial ancient object that came from god knows where inside the Normandy.

And yet it had only been a month.

“God damnit Shepard, you will always be the second-most weird person I’ve seen in my life. Next to the hideous cloaked man on the news.” Anderson tells himself, clearly remembering the rumors about a mysterious man who would kill high-ranked officials from across the world with two shotguns and disappear. Reminding him of the reaper of death…

Anyways, Anderson decided that the second person he’d contact would be an old… friend of his.

She popped up, clearly taken back by Anderson’s sudden appearance at first. She had on what seemed to be a blue and yellow Alliance Admiral uniform, and based on how it looked, it had recently been in some type of conflict.

“Are you alright, Kay?” Anderson asked, making sure no one was in the room before asking the now named Kahlee Sanders.

Kahlee smiled, chuckling a little bit. “Anderson.. please, I know how to handle myself. I’m not exactly a child as much as you are a politician. Don’t think I don’t know that look when you’d always step up to the public.

Anderson chuckled with her, clearly remembering his awkwardness as the human Councilor.

“Never go back to those days, Davey. Not during, or after the war ends. Or else I might just have to drag you out of that office myself, even if I’m some damn ghost.” She tells Anderson, he both of them laughing.

“You know, I’m in Seoul right now? Do I have a story to tell you…” Anderson begins to speak to Kahlee about the events that transpired since Vancouver.

_We talked to each other for a good few hours. After explaining to Kahlee about what had happened, she spoke about everything that happened at Grissom Academy. Shepard came in with that Jyn Erso, her Turian smartmouth Garrus Vakarian, and recently minted Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams, alongside their…robot? AI? AI, EDI. They mostly cleared the academy of Cerberus; most they got were a couple of the personnel that were there…_

“So…you don’t regret me sending Jack over as a teacher?” Anderson asked, the first big smile he had in over 3 months.

“No; she’s cool to the kids. I’m mostly regulating her; making sure she doesn’t turn the kids into mini-Jacks…or try and hit on me. My heart stays with the one person who deserves it.” Kahlee tells Anderson, as the Admiral seemingly his away a very faint blush.

_…Let’s just say by the end of it, we both seemingly didn’t want to go…but we had to._

_Eventually, after discussing our next moves with Liu and Coats, we decided that we needed everyone on Earth to buy Shepard more time. Even if it took as long as the Protheans did._

_So our next move?_

_Osaka._

_Rescue Mei, evacuate the Japanese safezone and get out of there, all with the backing of the young kid known as Hana Song, and the support of General Liu and the South Korean army._

_I just hope we can get there in time._

_Anderson out._

_Logging out…_

 

 

 

 

 

  



	5. Old Friends, New Mission

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Anderson reconciles with old friends, gains a new companion and prepares to build up Earth’s Resistance.

_Log 65…_

_Continuing…_

_(July 22nd, 2186; One month since the fall of Earth)_   
_(Seoul, South Korea)_

_South Korea…who knew we had to take a detour to there? I met a young girl who was somehow able to help me get out of a Reaper ambush we’d experienced there, and took us to Seoul for treatment. She told me…_

“You lost half your men while we were trying to get you out. Your friend is talking with the South Korean officials about what to do next, Mr. Anderson.” Hana tells them, pulling out some sort of soda from nearby.

“…are you a…gamer?” Anderson asked, noticing the attire of Hana, looking like some kind of bunny jumpsuit.

“Yeah! Hana Song, professional StarCraft II player, at your service!” She responds, almost going into an ecstatic-like mode due to being recognized by the Admiral.

Anderson chuckled, reminding him of the innocence that humanity seemed to have when they first began flying into space, colonizing planets left and right. Well…that was until the First Contact War in Shanxi. Which he certainly didn’t want to think about at the current time. “What’s a gamer like you doing in the middle of a damn warzone like Seoul? You should be heading to Osaka; they’re bringing in a lot of refugees there.”

“Didn’t you hear about what’s happening to Japan?” Hana asked almost worryingly, which proceeded to give a bad feeling in Anderson’s stomach, as it began rapidly building.

“What’s happening to it?”

“Tokyo’s burning. The giant Omnic squids are mostly trying to rot anyone out of there.” She tells them, leaving a very bad feeling in Anderson’s stomach.

 _At first, I couldn’t exactly believe it. We were down to only a couple thousand or so soldiers, in a matter of a day. I…eventually came to accept it. I knew that one day…we had to eventually bury the dead…no matter where they were. A mass funeral. For now though, after another two or so days of my back being fixed with advanced and prototyped versions of medi-gel, I was at least fit for combat again. After another day? I was allowed to get back up from bed, and_ visit Major Coats.

(July 24th, 2186)

Anderson and Hana walked into the temporary command structure that was the temporary South Korean military HQ. A man, seemingly in his 30s (and also Korean of course) barked orders, as Alliance soldiers rushed around, checking terminals, or switching patrol zones.

“Everyone; get me those stats on the Pacific; I want status on those !” The soldier screamed out, as Korean officers were springing across the center.

In the middle of the room, lit up a holographic-like image of Earth, most countries being marked in red, various dates laid on the various places.

“That is General Beng-Shou Liu. He’s been leading the South Korean forces here since those ‘Reapers’ happened to come here.” She tells him, the General smiling at Anderson’s arrival. Liu was bald, seemingly some type of veteran at that.

“Ah, I know General Liu. Was with me during the Skyllian Blitz.” Anderson tells her, the two of them going into a quick hug.

“Admiral Anderson; glad to see you still living.” He tells them in English, his Korean accent still lingering in his voice. “Our comms are temporary back up for the time being. Hana, help out those guys with the Mekas!” The General then proceeded to yell toward Hana, the private temporarily saluting to both Anderson and Liu before scurrying away.

“I’m guessing you’d like to contact someone from the CIC?” He asked, Anderson nodding.

“Yeah; two people.” He tells them. “The SSV Normandy SR-2 and Specialist Kahlee Sanders.” He tells the General, who smiled. “You do like her, don’t you? Even with the war and all, you’d never take your eyes off her.”

Anderson simply smiled. “I wouldn’t say that yet.”

As Anderson left, General Liu tried to stifle a laugh. “Ah, Anderson…always the knight in shining armor to Sanders. Surprised they hadn’t gotten a room together after the whole Talon Crisis.”

———————————————————————————————————————————

_(Inside the CIC, an hour later…)_

Deciding it was the best idea to let Shepard go, Anderson had cut comms with the Commander. He learned a lot of new things; someone called ‘M’ was the reason why they had gotten the unknown woman from Earth, now known as Jyn Erso. They also found out that Palaven fell shortly after Earth, recovered some French girl from a different universe, named Aelita Schaffer. And to top that all off, they had an extraterrestrial ancient object that came from god knows where inside the Normandy.

And yet it had only been a month.

“God damnit Shepard, you will always be the second-most weird person I’ve seen in my life. Next to the hideous cloaked man on the news.” Anderson tells himself, clearly remembering the rumors about a mysterious man who would kill high-ranked officials from across the world with two shotguns and disappear. Reminding him of the reaper of death…

Anyways, Anderson decided that the second person he’d contact would be an old… friend of his.

She popped up, clearly taken back by Anderson’s sudden appearance at first. She had on what seemed to be a blue and yellow Alliance Admiral uniform, and based on how it looked, it had recently been in some type of conflict.

“Are you alright, Kay?” Anderson asked, making sure no one was in the room before asking the now named Kahlee Sanders.

Kahlee smiled, chuckling a little bit. “Anderson.. please, I know how to handle myself. I’m not exactly a child as much as you are a politician. Don’t think I don’t know that look when you’d always step up to the public.

Anderson chuckled with her, clearly remembering his awkwardness as the human Councilor.

“Never go back to those days, Davey. Not during, or after the war ends. Or else I might just have to drag you out of that office myself, even if I’m some damn ghost.” She tells Anderson, he both of them laughing.

“You know, I’m in Seoul right now? Do I have a story to tell you…” Anderson begins to speak to Kahlee about the events that transpired since Vancouver.

_We talked to each other for a good few hours. After explaining to Kahlee about what had happened, she spoke about everything that happened at Grissom Academy. Shepard came in with that Jyn Erso, her Turian smartmouth Garrus Vakarian, and recently minted Lieutenant-Commander Ashley Williams, alongside their…robot? AI? AI, EDI. They mostly cleared the academy of Cerberus; most they got were a couple of the personnel that were there…_

“So…you don’t regret me sending Jack over as a teacher?” Anderson asked, the first big smile he had in over 3 months.

“No; she’s cool to the kids. I’m mostly regulating her; making sure she doesn’t turn the kids into mini-Jacks…or try and hit on me. My heart stays with the one person who deserves it.” Kahlee tells Anderson, as the Admiral seemingly his away a very faint blush.

_…Let’s just say by the end of it, we both seemingly didn’t want to go…but we had to._

_Eventually, after discussing our next moves with Liu and Coats, we decided that we needed everyone on Earth to buy Shepard more time. Even if it took as long as the Protheans did._

_So our next move?_

_Osaka._

_Rescue Mei, evacuate the Japanese safezone and get out of there, all with the backing of the young kid known as Hana Song, and the support of General Liu and the South Korean army._

_I just hope we can get there in time._

_Anderson out._

_Logging out…_

 

 

 

 

 

  



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